Wednesday 23 June 2021

Summer is here!

 The water lilies in the goldfish pond are blooming. I love them! They remind me of Muskoka.

Having carefully protected the robin's nest, I thought we were home-free. They are back, exploring the nest. There is one unhatched egg. I wonder if I should remove it? 

Speaking of removing it, JB took a tick off himself. Not engorged, so I think we're good. He saw the GP today, a prescheduled appointment, and was given doxycycline as a precaution. It's protocol around here. It makes you sensitive to sunlight. One dose, and you take it with food. 

He had his quarterly Lupron injection, and that was done in the office. We're good for another 3 months.

I have a new library book. Book #1 wasn't in, but I'd reserved #2, at the same time. JB picked it up for me. We'll see how this series goes. One good turn : a Jackson Brodie novel #2. 



There is no way I can get night photos of the fireflies, but they do like the hops vine during the daytime. The durn thing is on the white railing, and it's not easy to get a photo. This is the best I could do. 

I continue to remove 75 caterpillars a day from the hops. It makes me feel better. I'm wondering about some sort of trellis up top here. Any ideas, creative people?

You may wonder why I'm babying the hops so much. Firstly, it's a major part of our back deck in the summer, and it attracts so many critters. I'm looking forward to question mark, eastern comma, mourning cloaks, the io moth caterpillar, tree frogs, etc.


At this point, I'm pretty sick of caterpillars, as are many of us in southern Ontario. I'm back in the land of the living, although my headache came back yesterday afternoon. JB fetched me a Tylenol immediately, and that helped. He also wanted a hamburger for dinner, so he brought home two. I manage a half of mine. Sleeping 6 hours in a row, I'm feeling rested, but not pushing it. I'm down 5 kg. now, and my appetite is returning. It is a great relief.


10 comments:

Anvilcloud said...

Glad you are on the mend, as they say.

Tom said...

...we have a bunch of tree frogs and I love to hear them.

Christine said...

Love your photos today the water lilies the butterflies, wow.

DeniseinVA said...

Before I say anything Jenn, that is such a great header shot. Love all the flags and such. Your waterlily is gorgeous! I know nothing about birds nests and eggs left behind. I’ll leave that to an expert. Ticks are a very unpleasant part of summer. For the first time ever I bought a little tick-removing tool instead of the usual tweezers. I have not seen a firefly other than when they are glowing like fairy lights in the trees. Glad you’re feeling better but headaches aren’t good. Hope that goes away soon.

RedPat said...

We watched the Brodie TV shows and I really like them but haven't read the books.
You must have been reacting to the vaccine?

Karen said...

We had a firefly in the house the other night. Probably came in on the laundry.
I keep cutting the hops back but they grow like wildfire the minute I turn my back. We have a variety called Cascade that is good for making beer. It's REALLY hardy. I dig them up and give them away in the late summer. There must be lots growing around my little valley now.
Glad to hear you are feeling better.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Ticks are becoming more prevalent everywhere it seems. There are several areas where we walk regularly where they are present in greater numbers each year. We check ourselves very carefully as soon as we get home. Congratulations on the Io moth, a spectacular species.

William Kendall said...

Take it nice and slow.

Cloudia said...

Wishing you a pain free happy summer ♥️

Angie said...

Jenn- the water lily flower is exquisite! Every spring, we have many ticks here. I have learned to: 1) wear light colored clothing so they are more obvious 2) wear a hat so they can't hitch a ride on my hair 3) spray Sawyer Permethrin on some clothing if I am going to be in a particularly risky area, such as tall grass. Glad you are feeling better!